Risotto Recipe

How to make it

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• Method
• Chop your shallots/onion really fine; how you go about this is up to you but the end result should be that the onion is smaller than the grains of rice. Chop your garlic very fine, or if you don't fancy that job grab some fresh 'lazy garlic' from the supermarket and use a half teaspoon of this instead.
• Pop your heavy bottomed pan over a gentle heat and throw in the butter (Note: make sure your pan is big enough, this thing is set to expand, a lot!). When the butter starts to gently bubble throw in your onions and cook them, stirring occasionally, until they are translucent; avoid cooking them too fast, you don't want them to brown (Tip: you might like to throw in a little salt at this stage, this will draw out the onions juices and help to stop them browning).
• This is the key to a successful risotto - Pop your rice into the pan and stir well until it is thoroughly coated in the onions and butter, add a little salt and pepper and continue to cook over a gentle heat, stirring regularly until the rice goes translucent (this will be a very visible transition from white to clear). You might need to add a little more butter if it looks too dry but the most important thing is not to let the rice catch or get brown, you are 'sweating' the rice NOT frying it.
• Cooking the rice until it is translucent makes it thirsty and it will be ready to soak up all that lovely liquid and flavour, so add just enough liquid to cover the rice and gently bring it to the boil. Simmer the rice very gently until all the liquid is just about absorbed and then add some more liquid. Repeat this procedure until the rice is cooked, this should take around twenty minutes but don't try to hurry it.
• How can I tell when it is cooked?
• This really is the holy grail of good risotto, the rice should be just cooked so that the grains maintain their shape but the last thing you want is crunchy rice, the only real way to tell is to get a spoon and taste it. The consistency of risotto is not dissimilar to that of tinned rice pudding, moist but not soupy. If you run out of liquid before the rice is done just use water until it is cooked, it won't do any harm.
• Finishing off
• I like the fresh zing of garlic, so it is at this point I chuck it in, if you aren't so keen either don't add it at all or throw it in at the beginning when you are cooking the onions. Take the rice off the heat and stir in some Mascarpone cheese (about a dessert spoon per person shoull do it) taste the rice and add salt and pepper as needs be. Spoon it into one big dish, drizzle some olive oil over and grate some fresh parmesan over the top. Let the risotto sit for a minute or two before serving, it's had a rough journey and will appreciate the rest.
• Adding flavour
• Using the method described above you can add what ever flavours you fancy, here are a few ideas:
• Smoked Haddock Risotto
• Get some decent un-dyed smoked haddock, not that awful yellow stuff you find in the supermarkets, and poach it gently in some water until it is cooked. Remove the haddock from the water and strain the resulting smoky stock through a fine sieve. Use this stock as the base liquid for your risotto and when the rice is cooked, flake the haddock into the pan, giving it enough time to get hot. (Note: remember to remove the skin if it came attached!)
• Radicchio Risotto
• You'll either love it or hate it, Radicchio is a bitter red lettuce, readily available from most decent veg shops. Chop it very fine and add it to the pan when you are cooking the onions, you may need a little more butter on this occasion. When it is soft add the rice and proceed as normal. Before adding your water or stock, throw in a good glass of red wine and allow it to be absorbed before proceeding in the normal manner. Be warned this isn't the prettiest of risotto's but if you like something with a bit of kick, you'll love this.
• Pea and Mint Risotto
• Let it be said that unless you grow your own, or have access to a local farm shop, frozen peas are better than fresh.
• Bring a pan of water to the boil, add some salt and throw in the amount of peas you want (you will need quite a lot, perhaps a coffee mug full per person, so be generous). Boil rapidly for a few minutes and remove the peas. Drop them into iced water to stop them cooking and strain then them off as soon as they are cold. Take the water you cooked the peas in and add back about half of the peas and a bit of veggie stock cube, blend in a food processor until you have a nice green stock that has body but isn't too thick (Be careful not to get burnt with flying hot pea juice, process the liquid a bit at a time!). Use the resulting stock as the base for your risotto and throw in the remaining whole peas when it is cooked. Finely slice a little fresh mint and stir in at the last minute (Note: don't add a lot of mint at all, perhaps one leaf for every two or three portions, it's strong stuff and will ruin the dish if added in great quantities.)
• A general note on herbs
• Herbs can be added whenever you fancy, the general rule is to add hard herbs such as Rosemary or Thyme at the beginning off the risotto, so chop them up and throw them in with the onions. Soft herbs such as Parsley or Chives on the other hand are generally added at the end of the cooking and at the very last minute to preserve their delicate flavour. Never use dried herbs, they taste awful!
• Notes
• There are other types of rice you can use such as Carnaroli but Aborio is the easiest and cheapest to get hold of and is just dandy. Do not try and use pudding rice though!
• In this recipe we are using water but you may like to replace this with a good chicken stock or if you are making a fish based risotto, fish stock (Note: The risotto purists will tell you that you shouldn't eat parmesan with fish risotto - to hell with them I say, if it tastes good , do it!). The Italian chefs I have met have never been afraid of a good old fashioned stock cube for flavour, so if you aren't convinced water will give you the hit you need, another option is to dissolve a veggie stock cube into the water before you begin, just be careful not to make it too strong.